Researchers in Chicago believe they’ve found a virus that could be a trigger for Parkinson’s disease.
Parkinson’s impacts millions of people in the United States, according to Northwestern Medicine, and while some cases are linked to genetics, most cases are not.
Every living cell must interpret its genetic code—a sequence of chemical letters that governs countless cellular functions. A new study by researchers from the Center for Theoretical Biological Physics at Rice University has uncovered the mechanism by which the identity of the letters following a given nucleotide in DNA affects the likelihood of mistakes during transcription, the process by which DNA is copied into RNA. The discovery offers new insight into hidden factors that influence transcription accuracy.
The work is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The study was authored by Tripti Midha, Anatoly Kolomeisky and Oleg Igoshin. It shows why genetic sequences are not equally prone to errors. Instead, the identity of the two nucleotides immediately downstream of a site significantly alters the error rate during transcription. This discovery builds on prior insights by the same authors on enzymatic proofreading mechanisms, factoring in the effects of distinct kinetics for different nucleotide additions.
In what experts are calling a “dream come true,” scientists used a recent biochemical discovery to help an 8-year-old boy with a rare genetic condition regain mobility.
Researchers from NYU Langone demonstrated, in a study published in Nature on Wednesday, how a chemical precursor to a commonly available enzyme, CoQ10, can help brain cells overcome a rare genetic condition that severely hobbles cells’ energy production process. Without treatment, the boy’s condition is known to deteriorate rapidly and could be fatal.
NYU Langone researchers have helped an 8-year-old boy regain mobility using an experimental treatment.
If measured from beginning to end, the DNA in our cells is too long to fit into the cell’s nucleus, explaining why it must be constantly folded and packaged. When it is time for cell division, and the genetic information needs to be passed on to the next generation, DNA must be packed particularly tightly, or else serious consequences for a cell’s viability might ensue.
A new study by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and collaborators, suggests that artificial intelligence (AI) could significantly improve how doctors determine the best treatment for cancer patients—by enhancing how tumor samples are analyzed in the lab.
The findings, published in Nature Medicine, showed that AI can accurately predict genetic mutations from routine pathology slides—potentially reducing the need for rapid genetic testing in certain cases.
The paper is titled “Enhancing Clinical Genomics in Lung Adenocarcinoma with Real-World Deployment of a Fine-Tuned Computational Pathology Foundation Model.”
Researchers at Princeton University and the Simons Foundation have identified four clinically and biologically distinct subtypes of autism, marking a transformative step in understanding the condition’s genetic underpinnings and potential for personalized care.
Analyzing data from over 5,000 children in SPARK, an autism cohort study, the researchers used a computational model to group individuals based on their combinations of traits.
The team used a “person-centered” approach that considered a broad range of over 230 traits in each individual, from social interactions to repetitive behaviors to developmental milestones, rather than searching for genetic links to single traits.
Weight-loss drugs have surged in popularity, promising rapid results with regular injections. Now, researchers from Japan report a way for the body to make its own weight-loss drugs, doing away with injections in favor of a one-time treatment.
In the study, “Targeted In Vivo Gene Integration of a Secretion-Enabled GLP-1 receptor agonist Reverses Diet-induced Non-genetic Obesity and Pre-diabetes,” published in Communications Medicine, researchers from the University of Osaka reveal a modified genome editing approach to tackle noncommunicable, multifaceted diseases.
The approach introduced a new protein-coding gene, rather than attempting to correct a mutation in an existing gene and could be the key to lifelong effective weight management.
If you regularly experience headaches, dizziness, balance problems and blurred vision, our Neanderthal cousins could be to blame.
These are common symptoms of Chiari malformations, structural defects in which the lower part of the brain extends into the spinal cord. People with this condition have skulls shaped like those of our ancient relatives, leading to a hypothesis (known as the Archaic Homo Introgression Hypothesis) that it may be a genetic legacy from interbreeding between modern humans and Neanderthals.
To investigate this, Kimberly Plomp of the University of the Philippines Diliman and colleagues zeroed in on Chiari 1, the mildest form of the condition, which affects around 1 in 100 people.
